Columbia Basin Water Quality Project (CBWQ)

Mainstreams has coordinated the CBWQ since 2007 and has received funding for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. The program began as a result of recommendations from the Columbia Basin Watershed Network Symposium in 2005 that the Trust build capacity in local watershed groups to monitor their water. A training program involving watershed groups from all over the Columbia Basin was held in Kimberley in 2006; during that workshop the CBWQ was born.

Partner groups follow the same Environment Canada CABIN (Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network) protocol and are actively monitoring wadeable streams seven months per year. CABIN focuses on the health of benthic macro invertebrate populations and is used by governments across Canada.

CBWQ exists as a result of the funding support from Columbia Basin Trust. The project is coordinated by Laura Duncan who chairs the CBWQ Steering Committee. Mainstreams Environmental Society in Kimberley, BC administers the project.

Please use the contact form below to request additional information.

Vision:
To empower local watershed groups to engage in water quality monitoring

Mission:
To provide long-term, broad scale water quality data of local watersheds in the Canadian Columbia Basin

Goals:

Develop a model for and carry out long-term community-based water quality monitoring
Establish access to the resulting water quality data through web technology
Provide water quality data to Basin residents in a user-friendly format

Currently, CBWQ has 9 Partner Groups

Arrow Lakes Stewardship Society
Slocan Lake Stewardship Society
Slocan River Streamkeepers
Salmo Watershed Streamkeepers
Eastshore Freshwater Habitat Stewardship Society
Mather Creek Landowners (Mainstreams)
Elk River Watershed Alliance
Wildsight Invermere
Wildsight Golden